Geology Commons^™

The Kimama Core: A 6.4 Ma Record Of Volcanism, Sedimentation, And Magma Petrogenesis On The Axial Volcanic High, Snake River Plain, Id, Katherine Elizabeth Potter

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Snake River Plain (SRP) is one of the best-preserved examples of continental hotspot volcanis, with a continuous record of volcanism that extends over 16 Ma to the present. Yellowstone-Snake River Plain records the migration of plume-tail volcanism from inception at the Bruneau-Jarbridge caldera complex at 12.6 Ma to its present locus, under the Yellowstone Plateau.

Records kept by the Snake River Plain volcanic actions include rhyolite lavas and ignimbritesm minor coeval basalts, and an overlying veneer of younger basalts. The central SRP has received comparatively little attention in the past. The Kimama core hole was drilled as part of …

Landscape Evolution Of The Needles Fault Zone, Utah, Investigated Through Chronostratigraphic And Terrain Analyses, Faye L. Geiger

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Arcing eastward from the deep gorge of Cataract Canyon on the Colorado River is a series of aligned valleys (graben) and ridges (horst). This unusual landscape has formed as subsurface salt deforms toward the river and dissolves away, causing the overlying rocks to fault, slide, and subside. Geologists have long been interested in this actively evolving area they call the Needles fault zone, because understanding its mechanics and origin may shed light on how faults work in general and similar, yet inaccessible places like offshore rift zones or even the surface of the Moon. Despite this interest, the timing and …

In Situ Stress And Geology From The Mh-2 Borehole, Mountain Home, Idaho: Implications For Geothermal Exploration From Fractures, Rock Properties, And Geomechanics, James Andrew Kessler

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Geothermal energy is being explored as a supplement to traditional fossil fuel resources to meet growing energy demand and reduce carbon emissions. Geothermal energy plants harvest heat stored in the Earth’s subsurface by bringing high temperature fluids to the surface and generating steam to produce electricity. Development of geothermal resources is often inhibited by large upfront risk and expense. Successful mitigation of those costs and risks begins with efficient characterization of the resource before development. A typically successful geothermal reservoir consists of a fractured reservoir that conducts hydrothermal fluids and a cap rock seal to limit convective heat loss through …

Fault And Fluid Interactions In The Elsinore Fault-West Salton Detachment Fault Damage Zones, Agua Caliente County Park, California, Rebekah Erin Wood

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study area provides a unique opportunity to study the intersection of the Elsinore and West Salton detachment faults in southern California, effusing warm springs, and alteration products in the midst of the fault intersection. Structural mapping and compiling previous maps supply an interpretation of the fault zone geometries within the Tierra Blanca Mountains. Geochemical analysis of the crystalline basement and altered protolith help determine the effects of faulting and fluid flow in the study area. In the Tierra Blanca Mountains, the Elsinore strike-slip fault system transitions from the double-stranded Julian segment and Earthquake Valley fault in the northwest, to …

Rock Strength Of Caprock Seal Lithologies: Evidence For Past Seal Failure, Migration Of Fluids And The Analysis Of The Reservoir Seal Interface In Outcrop And The Subsurface, Elizabeth Sandra Petrie

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Scientists have proposed that in order to avoid damaging climate change further accumulations of anthropogenic atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) must be limited. One of several proposed techniques for reducing the amount CO₂ reaching the atmosphere is carbon capture and storage (CCS). This emerging technology stores CO₂ Emissions captured from large point sources (i.e. power plants or industrial facilities), in deep geologic formations, including depleted hydrocarbon reservoirs and saline aquifers. For successful CCS design, implementation and appropriate site selection and subsurface trapping mechanisms must be ensured over the 100's to 1000's of year timescale.

A key component …

Mesoscale Deformational Features Near Outcrop Analogs Of A Reservoir-Seal Interface: Implications For Seal Failure, Santiago L. Flores

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The boundary that separates reservoir rocks from caprock seals is generally considered a flow barrier for reservoir fluids. Buoyant fluids do no flow through the caprocks because they have low permeability and molecular forces at the base of the caprock resist upward flow. Deformation at the reservoir/caprock boundary may include fractures that increase permeability and lessen the effect of the molecular forces.

The injection and storage of carbon dioxide (CO₂) in porous sandstone with effective top seals below earth’s surface is a possible solution for reducing the amount of human-created CO₂ in the atmosphere. Uplift and erosion …

Molecular Systematics, Historical Biogeography, And Evolution Of Spider Wasps (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae), Juanita Rodriguez

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The study of the diversity and classification of any group of organisms provides a foundation for further scientific studies in ecology, evolution, and conservation. Insects are among the most diverse organisms that inhabit the planet, but knowledge of their diversity and classification is still limited. One understudied group of insects is spider wasps. These are solitary parasitoids that use one spider to lay a single egg. There are approximately 5,000 described species, and many more to be described. Unfortunately, fewer than 10 scientists worldwide study these insects. One reason the group has not been very well studied is the difficulty …